In the summer of 2003 Coach Nemo an Oregonian and former native of Milford, Mass., was visiting his family and coaching associates. In his talks with several of these coaches they suggested he contact a young promising coach who was building quite a reputation at Boston University. They felt she was an innovator who would probably be willing to try Nemo's Speed Hitting Program.
Taking their advice, Coach Nemo set up an appointment to meet with Coach Hayes, and he states, "After meeting with Amy I knew she had all the qualities in a coach who was destined to become extremely successful."
t Boston University, Coach Hayes spent four highly successful years compiling a 121-95 mark (.561 winning %) including three straight America East regular season titles and two NCAA regional berths. The success of the program translated into many accolades for Terrier players. All told in her four years with the Terriers, Hayes coached 21 all-conference players, two players of the year, two pitchers of the year, and two rookies of the year.
At that first meeting, neither coach knew that their destiny would be to meet again when Amy accepted an assistant coaches position at the University of Oregon in 2005 and in 2006 she became the head softball coach at Portland State University.
In 2005 Hayes served as an assistant at the University of Oregon, as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator. That year she helped Oregon post a 36-25 record and advance to the NCAA regionals.
With a proven track record of raising programs to new levels Amy Hayes became the Head Softball Coach at Portland State University in 2006. Hayes came to the Park Blocks with expectations of winning. Since the program made the move to the NCAA Division l level in 1999, the Vikings had never posted a winning season and had not won more than 25 games in a year. Hayes quickly went to work, however, on building a winner, implementing her "Portland State way" into the program during the 2005 fall drills.
With eight returnees from a team that went 17-28 in 2005, and the addition of eight newcomers, Portland State stumbled to an 0-5 start on the opening weekend of the 2006 season. The Vikings would respond by winning 19 of their next 25 games before the start of PCSC play. In her first year, she guided the Vikings to a 38-20 record, including a 15-5 mark in the Pacific Coast Softball Conference to capture the school's first ever NCAA Division l conference title.
In recognition, five Viking players were named to ALL_PCSC, including three first team selections in SS Lacey Gorman, RHP Michelle Hext and RHP Mandy Hill. Hill was also named the PCSC Pitcher of the Year and was a second team FCA All-West Region selection. Hayes was name the 2006 PCSC Coach of the Year.
Amy states, "The speed training bat is a great tool that athletes can use everyday to increase their bat speed and control. It has helped us increase our bat speed here at Portland State University without breaking down proper mechanics.
We have just started using Nemo's Triple Hitting Tee, but it has already proven itself to be very valuable in helping our younger players understand what it means to hit through the zone."
Hayes will enter the 2007 season with a career record of 159-115 and has led three teams to NCAA regional appearances in five years as a collegiate head coach.